The Arizona sentinel., 1887-04-16

prays, to attract the attention of the
 gods, Then again he jingles bells, and
 at praper in the temple, with the same
 purpose at heart
 "The funeral ceremonies are exceed
 ingly odd. Cremation is very common
 in Japan. Probably half of the people
 who die are burned. Iattended the rites
 upon the body of one of my students. At
 the grave the casket, or rather box, was
 placed upon two frame horses. His com-
 panion students stood about in digni-
 fled way, manifesting, however, no indi-
 cations of grief. There they remained
 smoking cigarettes while one made a
 prayer of fifteen minutes duration.
 The prayer in itself was peculiar.
 Though I was partially familiar with
 the language I could not make out a
 a single word. It sounded like the
 ceaseless buzzing of a humble bee.
 When the boy was lowered into the
 grave each student poked bit of dirt
 into the grave with his cane or um-
 brella. You never see a neglected
 grave in Japan. The anniversary of
 the demise is always observed by rela-
 tives, who decorate the graves. Graves
 of poets who have been dead five hun dred years are carefully looked after.
 ''In public many conventional feat
 ures are observed Of course every
 body sits on mats. These mats, three
 by six feet square, fit into the floor like dominos in a box. At ',--,.1c lecture you can sit where you please, but the reversed seat or stall system is in vogue with the theaters, The theaters are big, oblong, square structures, with two aisles running from the stage to the front of the house. These aisles are on level with the stage, while the floor is eighteen inches below the aisles, and is divided into innumer- able bins, nicely partitioned of. The playgoer walks along one of the aisles until he comes to his reserved bin. Then he walks the partition rail and so reaches the apartment, The play lasts from a. m. to 10 p. m., as a rule. The patron fetches his food with him and eats, smokes and drinks tea throughout the performance. There is revolving stage upon the stage proper, and the scenic effects are all real. While one act is going on the carpenters are at work upon the back of the revolving stage preparing the effects for the next act The larger theaters are lighted by gas, but are not heated. Between the acts the children rush up the aisles and behind the curtain to see the carpenters at work.
 1.-The actors are held in high esteem are almost, in fact, worshiped. Ther pictures are sold upon the streets and their names are household words. They have many of the stage mannerisms that are seen behind the footlights in this coun- try. Women do not act A youth of eighteen may be seen in one act as grooming old woman, in another as a valiant warrior, and later as a coy maiden. The stage is not lighted and boys dressed entirely in black rush about holding candles on bamboo poles right in the faces of the actors in order that the facial expression may be studied. Boys, too, carry crickets, and it is their duty to place them for the warrior as he sits down. When any one is killed in the play boy screens the body with a shroud, and the actor crawls off the stage on his hands and knees. The conceit is ridiculous, for the moving head and feet of the dead man are visible from each end of the shroud. When night effect is desired a black box with a transparent crescent moon is let down from the flies. The orchestra is composed of human voices that follow the varying fortunes of the play with suitable groans, shouts or cooings.
 1.-The music of Japan is incompre- hensible until you have given it care full study. They have To war song, home songs or love songs. The priests sing and chant, but the people employ it done by professional vocalists. It is so with dancing. If a gentleman gives a dinner a dancing girl is brought in and gives an exhibition. They are capital entertainers, and dress beautifully. Fans and musical | instruments are used in their perform ances. Some of these women are re- nowned for their wit and conversa- tional attachments. While some of the Japanese acknowledge the superiority of our educational systems, they con- tend that their music is superior to our own, Some of us Americans sang them a number of patriotic songs. | When the words were interpreted to | them the deprecatedthe custom of con- necting war with music.
 1.-The child of Japan is free thing. | His parents use every means to famil- arize him with life. I have seen a | child asleep in the office of big silk house in the busiest portion of the day. | He lay amidst the busy book-keep- PTS, but each was careful not to disturb the little one"
 Always be placid. A physician says there is nothing like care or wor-